Between the Cracks
by Cymoril Avalon
Summary: Jounouchi has wanted for a long time to confess his feelings for Yuugi. Finally, he finds the courage to do so in a less than expected manner. JounouchiXYuugi. Adult themes. Dark. Very dark.


Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. This contains dark, mature themes. I don't own those, either.

The cuffs were chafing, scraping already raw skin and sending jolts of pain straight through his body. Angry, red skin flared in protest as he twisted his wrists, again putting forth a struggle he knew was futile. If it hadn't been so dark, he might have been able to crane his neck far enough to watch the rivulets of blood run down his bare arms.

His memory was returning in faulty fits, little flashes of images that didn't flow together. Liquor and laughter and a drunken challenge, cards and candy and unruly blonde hair, all jumbled together like pieces of a puzzle strewn by a storm. None of it made sense, but alone in the pitch black room, trussed up and naked and forgotten, he had nothing better to do than continue to sift through them, trying to put them together to form a coherent picture.

He didn't know how long he was left there, dangling from the ceiling and shivering, but his mouth was parched by the time he heard footsteps approaching. Despite the chill, he broke out in a clammy sweat, adrenaline coursing through his veins and lending him energy he could not expel. Heart pounding in his ears, he strained against his bonds, the jingling of the chains briefly overpowering the sound of his captor's approach. Panic flared in him, bright and hot, and very suddenly he desperately did _not_ want to see whoever it was who had done this to him.

He heard a door opening, somewhere behind him, and a dim light illuminated a portion of the room. It was dingy and empty, save for a rickety table and chairs, the walls leaking some sort of fluid that stained the floor and escaped through some cracks. He noted with alarm that his Puzzle lay discarded in the corner, only briefly catching the light before growing dim again.

The door closed, and once again the room was plunged into darkness. He could hear the other breathing, calm and even, clothes rustling as they approached, brushing past him. Reflexively he jerked away, barely stifling a cry as the cuffs dug into his abused wrists, the scent of fresh blood reaching his nose. The faint _whisk_ of a match and light flared again, guttering faintly from a few candles precariously set on the table, and he gave another jerk.

"Jounouchi?" His tongue was thick and rubbery, screaming for a drop of water, and it almost hurt to speak.

The blonde laughed softly, eyes oddly blank. "Yuugi," he said politely, sounding almost-but-not-quite the way he had when he'd been controlled by Malik. His voice was harsher, yes, but it was his own, driven by what was left buried deep inside, roiling and rotting and corrupting and spreading until there was nothing else left.

Yuugi's eyes darted over towards the Puzzle again before settling back on his friend. "Thank goodness you're here!" he babbled, refusing to accept the only logical explanation that had suddenly slammed into place in his mind. All the gears stopped grinding, the puzzle pieces stopped shifting, and the image was clear, _but he could not accept it_. Licking his cracked, bleeding lips, he said, "Please, get me down from here, we have to get out of here…" _It can't be him, it can't be him, it can't be him_…

Jounouchi laughed again, the sound far less pleasant than before. "I think you misunderstand," he murmured as he stepped over to the bound boy, dark eyes glittering. He reached out abruptly, roughly seizing the boy's chin. "You lost our duel, Yuugi, and this is your punishment."

He vaguely remembered their duel, fought after they'd both had a little too much to drink, though now he recalled that Jounouchi had been far more in control of himself than he should have been. Yuugi had only had a few drinks, he shouldn't have reacted the way he had…

_A small, purple packet, opened and upended into the glass, white powder dissolving instantly, leaving no aftertaste…_

"_It'll keep you from getting sick, Yuugi, trust me…" _

_The cards falling from his hands, hands that wouldn't stop shaking, bile rising in his throat as the room spun and fell into darkness…_

_Laughter, clear as crystal, dodging his failing consciousness, creeping beneath his skin and staining his heart with ice, the telltale signs of lunacy cloying…_

"I've been waiting a long time for this," he breathed, the flickering candlelight twisting his features, making him look gaunt and otherworldly, carving pieces of shadow into his skin.

_Mou_ _hitori no boku_, Yuugi thought desperately, but there was no answer, his Other's consciousness trapped inside the Puzzle abandoned in the corner of the room like so much rubbish. He was alone, entirely alone again.

"It's been hard, you know," Jounouchi continued, either not noticing Yuugi's internal struggle or not caring. "Watching you work your way through our group, first dating Anzu and then breaking my sister's heart, and then finally winding up with your Other, despite the fact that he isn't even real. Everyone, Yuugi, except for the person who's been by your side through thick and thin." His voice rose dangerously. "Everybody but me!"

Tired muscles clenched, a last ditch effort at breaking binds that couldn't be broken. Yuugi couldn't bring himself to look away, caught by the madness burning in his friend's eyes.

"But I took care of all of them already," he was saying, laughter breaking into an irregular giggle. "All except my sister, of course. She is hardly to blame for being so innocent as to fall for your disgusting tricks." His grip turned gentle, almost caressing, fingers stroking over Yuugi's jawline. "She told me all about you, you know. How you liked to tie her up and take her from behind, and it got me thinking…"

An artful pause, obviously something Jounouchi had been practicing for some time.

"Actually, it didn't. It enraged me. It should have been _me _you were playing with, not Anzu, not Shizuka, not Bakura, not your Other; me! And so, I decided it was time I stepped away from the sidelines and joined the game."

One of the candles went out in a small puff of smoke, followed by a second.

He let go of Yuugi's face, hand instead slipping down, fingers dancing over the boy's chest and abdomen.

"And so I challenged you, knowing it was the only way to draw your Other out, and I drugged you to make him more vulnerable. Now he is out of the way, and everyone else is out of the way, and we can be together. See? It all fits together nicely, our own little fairy tale."

Jounouchi leaned close, lips only inches away from Yuugi's, and the last candle guttered out.

"Welcome to my world…"


End file.
